Lest We Forget: The Effect of War Commemorations on Regret, Positive Moral Emotions, and Support for War

Abstract

Why do societies commemorate war? The persistence of war commemorations suggests they serve a purpose in society. We examine one possibility: Commemorating past sacrifices may serve an “inspirational” function, by evoking pride and gratitude for soldiers’ actions and promoting a willingness to endure future sacrifices for the group. We contrast this with the (popularly espoused) “preventative” function, whereby commemorations decrease support for war by evoking regret. Drawing on one correlational study (N = 500) and two experimental studies (N = 600, 621) with U.S. residents, we show that although war commemorations inconsistently induce regret for the country’s actions, they consistently elicit emotions such as pride and admiration in response to the costly sacrifice of soldiers. While war commemorations neither increased nor decreased support for war directly, the inspirational account received greater support overall. We discuss implications of these findings in light of the ubiquity of war commemorations.